Old Faithful Should Not Have “Rights”

[Valin]

Frist Things:

 

Wesley J. Smith

10/19/12

 

First there were “animal rights.” Now, the next logical step is being taken by increasingly mainstream environmental radicals. Watch out: Here come “nature rights.”

 

Doubt anyone would pass laws actually giving “rights” to “nature?” They are already being enacted: New Zealand has granted the Whanganui River the rights of “personhood,” declaring it to be an “integrated, living whole” possessing “rights and interests”; Switzerland has placed a clause in its constitution recognizing the “dignity of creation,” including individual plants; and nearly 30 U.S. municipalities have adopted ordinances recognizing the purported “rights of nature,” including Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Santa Monica, California. Leftist governments in Bolivia and Ecuador have enshrined nature rights in their national constitutions, and a similar proposal was offered for inclusion in the draft United Nations global warming treaty.

 

Just what are the purported rights of nature? Promoted most prominently by the Community Environment Legal Defense Fund, the laws center around “the rights of people, natural communities, and ecosystems to exist, regenerate and flourish”—in essence, a “right to life for nature.” When these rights are deemed to come into conflict with human activities, nature must be given equal consideration. If there is no other way to mediate them, the disputes will go to court with environmentalists acting as nature’s “guardians.” Nature rights laws often allow any citizen to sue on behalf of nature, allowing unending litigation intended to throttle development projects before they ever get off the drawing boards.

 

(Snip)

 

 

In case you think this is satire, Clink On Link And Scroll Down.

[clearvision]

So will "illegal" plants be given the same rights as natural born plants once they have established roots in this country?

[Valin]

@clearvision

 

This is just insane! Some people have just too much time on their hands!!!